Author: freeprideglasgow

We would love to extend a massive thank you to everyone who has responded to our call for LGBTQIA+ performers so far – the response has been overwhelming!

Cities, towns, and villages all over the world are full of talented LGBTQIA+ artists and individuals who all too often get sidelined at Pride events – getting hidden away in smaller tents and spaces while time on the mainstage is given to non-LGBTQIA+ performers with mild mainstream success. And we feel the diversity of performers on Pride mainstages rarely ever represent the diversity of our queer communities.

At Free Pride we want to create a space that will put LGBTQIA+ performers and artists centre stage, and that will prioritise the representation of those who are commonly sidelined on such stages – for example performers with disabilities and people of colour.

Throughout the day time event we will have poetry and music from many local individuals and groups. One group that we are excited to announce is the They They Theys!

They They Theys are poet Sandra Alland and musicians Lawrence, Chris Red and Nathan Gale. They are sometimes accompanied by the stunning films of Ania Urbanowska and BSL performance by Alison Smith. Their debut performance at ‘SEEP: Fluidity in Body & Landscape’ received 5 stars from The Skinny, and The Student said: “They They Theys are at once a band, a film and a poem. A beautifully shot film, carefully orchestrated with Sandra Alland’s words, and strings, a harmonica, percussion and an oboe, touches on the issue of bodily fluidity whilst also allowing itself to be a startling piece of art.”

At too many Pride events around the world the focus is too much on partying and creating a festival atmosphere. Pride has lost its radical, political edge and we want to return Pride to its roots. Unlike too many other Prides, at Free Pride we want to put priority on creating safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ people to have educational and radical discussions, talks, and workshops that brings the focus of the day back to LGBTQIA+ people and issues that are important and all to often overlooked.

Throughout the day we will have various talks and workshops on topics including bisexuality, asexuality, intersectionality, and sex work. One talk that we are very excited for is a talk from “Who Cares?”

Who Cares? Scotland is an independent charity and membership organisation that supports people brought up in the care system. At present, 15000 young people are living in care in Scotland. Who Cares? Scotland works intersectionally and explores and promotes all parts of young people’s identities. 90% of young people are taken into care because of abuse and neglect but they report feeling judged and stigmatised because of their care experience.

At Free Pride, LGBT care experienced young people will share their stories. They will talk to attendees about what it is like to be LGBT and in care. To worry about whether your new foster parent or children’s home worker will accept your identity and to have no control over where you live if they don’t. They will ask people in attendance to take the Pledge To Listen and let them know how they can help to make society better for young people brought up in care of the state.

Stay tuned to our event page for more information on the other talks, workshops and discussions, as well as the running order to be announced soon!

At Free Pride we aim to have a space for LGBTQIA+ groups, organisations, and charities, among others, to set up stalls to reach out to those of us at the event! Stalls like these are great ways for these groups to provide helpful and educational information and support to those who need it, as well as helping the distribution of important health and well being provisions (also sometimes cute tote bags and badges!)

At too many Pride events around the world these spaces are being dominated by corporate organisations who use their stalls to sell their products and capitalise on the pink pound, as well as using them to engage in pinkwashing
where they use their inclusion of LGBT staff members to distract from their failure to support the needs of queer people around the world. Many Pride events even require that entry wristbands or tickets are purchased to access these stalls, and as a result cut off the important information and support from those who may need it most.

We want to share another BIG thank you to everyone who helped us exceed our fundraising target on Indiegogo! Thank you to everyone who donated, everyone who shared the campaign, and everyone who helped us out in other ways during that time!

If you still have some money on you that you would like to donate to a good cause then, following on from our earlier post today, why don’t you consider donating money to Happy Birthday Marsha – a film about legendary transgender artist and activist, Marsha “Pay it No Mind” Johnson and her life in the hours before the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. All donations will help the film get out of post production.

Here is a statement from the filmmakers:

“We truly believe how we tell the stories of our heroes matters, so we are drawing upon our community to make this film because we have an opportunity to make a movie written, directed and produced by people living Sylvia & Marsha’s legacy through our own work. It’s been 45 years since the Stonewall rebellion yet the leading role that street queens, trans women of color and gender non-conforming people had during the riots hasn’t received the recognition it deserves. By making Happy Birthday, Marsha!, we are seeking to change that.”

We are disappointed, but not surprised, to learn of the new Hollywood film “Stonewall” whitewashing and trans erasing our queer history. Trans women of colour started Pride. Trans women of colour are all too often written out of our histories and forgotten about by the current gay rights movement that centres and focuses on well off white gay men. While it could have been great to have had our history represented on the big screen, this kind of visibility for the gay community at the expense of the trans community and people of colour is not acceptable.

We want to say a belated thank you to everyone who came down to our film screening the other weekend – it was a great evening and we really enjoyed the post film discussion, so thanks to everyone who came along and contributed!

If you missed it, you can catch the documentary we screened ‘Pay It No Mind: the life and times of Marsha P Johnson’ online for free!

It’s an emotional and powerful look at the life of one of the most iconic figures in LGBTQIA+ history, and addresses many important issues that we feel are still relevant today- if you watch it, let us know what you think!